A4: REPRESENTING THE REAL WORLD

1 x blog post reflecting on representing the real world as part of a nonfiction media practice (500 words). We’ve talked a little about the way that recorded images and sound can convey a sense of authenticity and/or persuade us to think about the real world. Is there a shot, edit or scene within your finished work that you find to be effective at doing either?
 

I think that there are a few moments of authenticity throughout our film, and we made sure to keep these moments alive when editing our film. Like keeping in laughs, jokes or staying focused on her face when she begins to talk about more serious topics.

In particular, I can think of the moment in our finished work where she talks about the disrespect and un-comfortability she felt as she walked through the Mosque in India without a headscarf and appropriate clothes for the religious environment. I think that there is a real raw moment there where we see the authenticity of Beck as a human, describing the discomfort she felt. This connects the audience to her as not only an authentic person, but one that is considerate and respectful. This moment reflects Bill Nichol’s observational mode documentary by discovering the truth of the subject, Beck (B. Nichols, 1991). We observe Beck as she describes her emotions at that point of time in the story, and how her actions truly affected her.

Additionally, I think there is a slight crossover with Bill Nichol’s participatory mode in moments of our film where we can see Beck laughing at what Joe and I are saying or doing something for the camera for us, (eg. The shot of her showing her apron to us in the store). This mode is the interaction of the filmmakers and their subject, (B. Nichols, 1991), and you can see us interacting with Beck throughout our final film. This adds a layer of authenticity because her bubbly personality shines through, but it also displays that Beck enjoyed her time with us, making moments like these more natural and unscripted.

I think that it is really important to have these unplanned moments as it reminds the audience as to the realness of the character, humanising them in a sense. We did not struggle with this at all luckily, because Beck is such a likeable person.

As well as this, in a way, the building and hammering you can hear in the audio throughout the film adds a layer of authenticity of the ‘real world’ around her. Because it is set in a country town, it hints to viewers as to the development of these types of remote places and enhances the realism of being there with the character.

 

REFERENCES

Nichols, B. (1991). Representing reality : issues and concepts in documentary. Indiana University Press.

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